Alicia Vikander is first Swedish actress since Ingrid Bergman to win an Oscar

February 29, 2016

Alicia Vikander won an Oscar for best supporting actress on Feb 28 at the 88th Academy Awards. She is the first Swedish actor or actress to win an Oscar since Ingrid Bergman’s best supporting actress award in Sidney Lumet’s “Murder on the Orient Express” in 1974. Vikander read parts of Ingrid Bergman’s journal in Stig Björkman’s “Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words”(2015).

Vikander is brilliant in Tom Hooper’s “The Danish Girl” that debuted at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 5. The film is set in the 1920’s in Copenhagen and Paris. Based on the novel by David Ebershoff, Vikander plays Gerda Marie Fredrikke Gottlieb, a Danish illustrator who marries Einar Wegener, beautifully played by Eddie Redmayne, nominated for best actor. Einar becomes the first transperson to undergo gender confirmation surgery. Both are shown making personal sacrifices to become their authentic selves. Gerda and Lili embark on odysseys ripe with awakenings and their shared journey is deeply felt because of the sensitive nature of the performances by Vikander and Redmayne.

“The Danish Girl” is a well-crafted production with a superior technical crew assembled by Tom Hooper. The set design and costumes both nominated for Oscars are exceptional in detail and imbue the film with a rich tapestry as background. Vikander thanked Hooper and the crew for her award.

The chemistry between Vikander and Redmayne help define their characters on a deeper level and Vikander thanked Redmayne in her acceptance speech for “being the best acting partner who raised my game”. Vikander’s support and dynamic effervescence in “The Danish Girl” was of Oscar winning caliber and abundantly clear at the film’s debut in Venice.

News of Alicia Vikander’s award in Sweden which she said was “just waking up” as she won was jubilant. Vikander sat with her mother Maria Fahl Vikander in the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles nearby boyfriend Michael Fassbender, nominated for best actor in “Steve Jobs”.

Alicia Vikander stars in two other films this year : ”Ex Machina” (Oscar for best visual effects) and ”The Man from UNCLE” and last year in ”Testament of Youth”. Her debut was in Lisa Langseth’s ”Pure (Till det som är vackert)” (2009).